REWE invites shoppers to taste: chocolate granola with 15% or 30% less sugar. Photo: REWE Group

REWE starts “sugar test” with granola products

30% less sugar: this is the result of the survey conducted among REWE shoppers in early 2018. Back then four chocolate puddings were offered for tasting – with differing sugar content. Concluding the tasting exercise as a winner with over 45% approval was the pudding whose sugar content was 30% lower than in the original recipe. For tasting purposes the four chocolate puddings were then offered as a four-pack back.

TIGHTLY PACKED

Now the taste testers are invited to decide which sugar content REWE’s Triple Choc Knusper Müsli should have in future. Votes can be cast from 11 February to 4 March. This time three different sugar contents are on offer: original recipe, minus 15% and minus 30%. The three types come in tasting sachets in graduated colours in one box.

Early 2018 saw REWE shoppers vote: to reduce the sugar content of REWE’s private label chocolate pudding by 30% in future. Said and done: the desired product was commercialised. Photo: REWE Group

Healthier nibbling

The tasting forms part of the campaign started in 2018: “You are my sugar. How much more sugar do you need?” With low-sugar private labels REWE wants to make it easy on their shoppers to gradually reduce their sugar consumption in everyday life. Last year the sugar content in as many as 100 private label products was already reduced – the recipes of further 400 articles are currently being adapted.

With this move retail is again responding to the appeals launched by consumer protection agencies who have already been calling for lower-sugar confectionery or alternative products and clearer labelling for a long time now.

Colour-coded labelling

The call for more transparency primarily refers to packaging. The European Union aims at introducing a uniform nutrition traffic light on product packaging designed to make the sugar, fat and salt content of products visible at first sight with the help of traffic light colours: red, yellow and green.

Food combines such as Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever have refused these demands so far and advocate their own system instead –

The industry traffic light. But since late 2018 this project has come to a standstill – recently Mars opted out of the industry initiative.

For lack of a harmonious European solution the United Kingdom, France and Belgium have now voluntarily committed themselves to introduce a colour-based labelling scheme at national level.